4/5 ★ – sheldoman's review of Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires.

So Dynasty 7 is still probably my favourite of the series (for reasons I talk about in that review) and Empires is an interesting like alternate version of the game. Some of the stuff it adds makes the game a more engaging experience but some stuff feels a little lacking. The Dynasty Warriors gameplay was really perfected in 7 (imo) and it's nice to relive that. Empires adds strategy elements that I want to talk about. I like how the levels have a sort of Battlefield style of capturing bases and stuff. I think that element and the supply lines really add something. A lot of times I would be running back and forth to protect bases, save teammates, and capture their bases. It made the game fun and the "troops" system which allows me to die and come back (as long as my unit still has troops) makes the higher difficulties feel less unfair. The stratagems are a mixed bag. It's cool to be able to lay traps and improve bases and all that. However... I felt like I was often getting screwed over by teammates who would suddenly lock all of the bases' gates while I was inside. Or who would flood an area I needed to pass. Or various other annoyances. The meta-game strategy stuff is kinda fun at first and keeps the game interesting on multiple playthroughs, however, if you aren't the ruler of a kingdom it becomes really boring. There were a lot of times when I was just sitting around waiting for my ruler to declare war or to have war declared on us. The sworn siblings/spouse system is also okay but not nearly robust enough to be interesting. You just gain points by fighting with an officer or by choosing "Interact" on the menu and when it's high enough it gives you the option to make the relationship official. There's no sense of getting to know them or actually befriending them like in say Fire Emblem. Also I do really like the story of Three Kingdoms so to have them totally do away with the story is a little annoying. I wish that they put in more cutscenes and more dialogue stuff to make it feel like each game was it's own story. If you like DW, you'll probably enjoy this but this could've easily been a lot better if they had added a bit more stuff to it.